I had previously commented about how happy I am that the parks in Chiang Mai are so well maintained compared to other places I have lived in Thailand. The city seems to take great pride in keeping the parks looking great and being a nice respite from the concrete jungle that is, for the most part, what all of this city is. However, I think that each subdistrict must be in charge of their own parks independent from the central administration and the Wat Ket subdistrict must just not care at all.
I dont know if this place was ever popular, but it sure isn't now. Despite the fact that it was an unusually cool Saturday, I was the only person in the park. I suppose it is easy to understand why though - since everything is overgrown with weeds and the footpaths are cracked and broken.
This is the administration office, i looked in the window and saw one guy at a desk playing some kind of online game. There was garbage all over the place indoors as well.
Thai people love swimming pools as much as anyone else... this has so much potential too.
The playground area... my picture doesn't do justice to how eerie it was and if i got up closer in my shots you would be able to see that it is covered in rust. All the park benches around it were either completely destroyed or look as though they would be if someone were to sit on them.
This last picture doesn't look like much but it was the security guard booth. I politely went up to talk to the guy and asked him "why is there a security guard here?" to which he responded "I don't know"..... haha
It is a relatively massive plot of land in an otherwise also pretty horrible looking area in Chiang Mai. There is very little in the way of nature anywhere around this area. I think it is sad that the government has this large plot of likely very valuable land and then just allows it to fall apart. It was in such a sad state that I at times felt as though I was trespassing.
I don't have any kids, but if i did I would not feel comfortable allowing them to play here. Not sure what they would do anyway. Pool appears to be long out of use, the pavement and playground are health hazards, and everything is overgrown. There was also stagnant water all over the place which is good because now we can introduce the potential of malaria and dengue fever into the situation.
I suppose if you enjoy taking pictures of abandoned building and dilapidated public spaces this might be a good spot for you. I admit I kind of do enjoy those sorts of things but looking around this place and thinking about how wonderful it could be.... i couldn't help but feel a bit sad.
